A MUCH-NEEDED break from the league saw Hinckley United return to winning ways as they progressed past Coventry Sphinx into the third qualifying round.

Paul Lister overcame a knock to return to the heart of the defence and Dean Thomas was able to name four substitutes for the first time in a while.

The visitors proved they were going to be no rollover from the start as they got in the Knitters players’ faces from the first whistle and had a fair share of possession. Hinckley were first to find the net after 19 minutes when Callum Burgess headed in a Gavin Strachan free-kick only for the ref to rule it out for a push.

Four corners in quick succession saw a flurry of action in the Sphinx goalmouth with Lloyd Kerry heading just over, James Reid’s effort was deflected off target and Gary King couldn’t find his way past the visiting keeper.

The second period saw Hinckley creating the better chances, again Reid finding space only to blast over from inside the area with the goal at his mercy.

But in the 72nd minute their persistence paid off when chaos in the Sphinx goalmouth ended with Strachan claiming to have poked the ball over the goal line and the linesman agreed and signalled the goal.

Wanting to freshen things up, manager Thomas bought on Ben Fairclough and Danny Newton in place of Reid and King, and it was the introduction of Fairclough that saw Hinckley put daylight between themselves and Sphinx.

The midfielder ran at the tired Coventry defence and as he challenged the keeper, the ball fell kindly to Andre Gray who kept up his fine scoring form to score the second from 10 yards.

Sphinx nearly got themselves a lifeline but saw their best effort cleared off the line following a corner and after that Hinckley saw the game out to book themselves a spot in the next round.